Thank you Hannah Martin Elementary!

I posted this on Humtley neighbors but wanted to share it here too:

I would like to express my thanks & gratitude to the staff & students of Hannah Martin for a fantastic school year. My daughter Faith has thrived there the last 3 years but this year has been especially wonderful despite some rather un-wonderful & rather extraordinary events that have occurred in her young life during the past 11 months. I really wanted everyone to know how much we appreciate everything that everyone in the school has done for us. If you would like to learn more, please keep reading. It’s pretty long tho – I have a tendency to go word crazy ;)




My daughter Faith was a 5th grade student at Martin this year. Faith has bi-lateral hip dysplasia. She had back to back surgeries 3 weeks apart at age 2 & then another surgery on her left hip at 3 ½. The latter surgery helped get her hip socket formed correctly but left her with a left leg that turned out. Last July she had surgery again to try to straighten out her left leg & hopefully help with her gait. They cut thru her femur at the “neck” where the ball is at the top. The leg was repositioned & then a metal plate & screws were put in to stabilize it while it healed. We weren’t certain what her weight bearing status was going to be when she started school last Fall. A few days before school started she had x-rays and we learned she was still going to be non-weight bearing & in a wheel chair still as school was starting.



When we got home from her appointment I called District 158 transportation & Martin to let them know. From the very beginning everyone was supportive and helpful. New bus arrangements were made & given to us. When we went to open house all of the staff that would be working with her made sure to touch base with us and reassure us everything would be fine. When we met with Faith’s new teacher Miss Weel she greeted us with a big smile and a burst of positive energy. She was not expecting nor had a chance to plan for a child in a wheelchair to be in her classroom but she took it all in stride and said how excited she was to have Faith in her class this year.



Things went pretty well. Faith progressed from the wheel chair to just using a walker to walking on her own. She still needed some extra time & help but things were getting back to normal. Then in late February she started complaining of pain in the evenings. At first we assumed it was muscle soreness due to the increase in activity but as it seemed to get worse instead of better & her PT noticed her strength was lessening instead of improving we called to get her into the doctor. It turned out that the metal plate in her leg and broke literally in half! Plus the bone was still not healed all the way thru. There was a significant gap that needed to fill with new bone & the plate had given out before the bone was finished healing. She was going to have to have surgery again almost immediately. We went to school the next day with her on crutches & bearing the bad news. She was to have surgery on the next Thursday, March 10th and then would be out of school until after Spring Break.



After her surgery I went into school to check on homework. The office staff and nurse talked to me about setting up in-home tutoring. I got a phone call awhile later that her teacher from last year, Miss McMahon had volunteered for the assignment as soon as it was put out & would that work for us. Knowing that a teacher that Faith already knew & loved would be coming in to help made my day. Miss McMahon is not only an awesome teacher but a great friend to my daughter. She had come to visit her over the summer after the first surgery, so had Mrs. Martin another teacher at the school that Faith was very fond of. Faith recovered at home from her surgery boosted by emails from Miss Weel, cards from her classmates, a visit by her girl scout troop & tutoring visits from Miss McMahon.



When Spring Break was over she resumed school back in a wheelchair & completely non-weight bearing. She was back on the special bus with a simple phone call and welcomed back to the building & classroom with warm happy smiles. I can’t say enough about the compassion, warmth & incredibly positive & supportive attitude of everyone on the Martin staff. From the support staff in the office, to the nurses and Mrs. Taylor the social worker to the teachers she learned from & worked with: Miss Weel, Mrs. Burley, Miss McMahon & Mrs. Martin & the specials teachers. To the administrative staff at the school & in the special needs department. I also must mention the transportation staff & her awesome bus driver & aide.



As wonderful as the staff has been I also have to give my deepest heart felt thanks to the students at Martin. We hear often these days about bullying in the schools. I was so worried about my daughter going to 5th grade in a wheelchair & a big ugly orthopedic brace that encircled her body. As we all know kids can be cruel when other kids are different, but the students at Martin were as accepting as the adults. Her classmates helped out and treated her with kindness. Every time we went to a school event or even if we ran into kids outside of school shopping she was greeted with waves & warm smiles & “Hi Faith!” She attended the 5th grade dance in her wheelchair & had the time of her life.



With the emotional & physical ups & downs Faith experienced this school year the potential for disaster was huge. Instead it was her best year yet. She came home with straight As on her report card but more importantly she finished off the year full of confidence & excitement over being an “official” middle schooler next year.



I know some might question why I would reveal so much of my family’s personal life in a public forum. But with all the negatives that get posted everyday I wanted to share something I feel is so profoundly positive about our community. The kindness & support we have received from the district, the school & the people of Huntley this past year has been tremendous. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Call me Cleopatra...

Denial may not be the name of that river in Egypt but for the last two years I have been drowning in it just the same. In January 2009 I had an EMG & and a MRI done on my hip. My bones were healing pretty well from the surgery the I had the summer before but I was having muscle weakness & my range of motion was bad. I got an email from my surgeon February 20th. He said while I didn't show any nerve damage I did have muscle atrophy & some scarring in the muscle. He also wanted to talk to me about trying to get the rest of the bones to heal that hadn't from my first surgery by a different doctor that he wasn't able to get to and fix with the surgery he did.

When I got that email I just was so fed up with the whole thing. I was angry. I felt like everything I did to get ready for the surgery, my 70 pound weight loss & all the strength training I did, followed by the surgery and the long recovery was for nothing. Just the idea of having another surgery made me want to run (limp?) for the hills. And mentally that's just what I did. I ignored that email because I didn't want to deal with it.

 I spent the next two years playing ostrich. My head was firmly planted in the sand. I ignored the increasing muscle weakness and the limping and the pain. I ignored the fact that my pants kept getting tighter and tighter until I stopped wearing anything but sweat pants since weight was creeping back on because I was feeling to sorry for myself to work out. I really ignored the scale because the numbers don't lie and I wasn't ready for the truth. I ignored that email & kept telling myself I would deal with it later. Only later never came. Days turned into weeks that turned into months and now years.

A few weeks ago I had my big ol' Opra-esque A-Ha moment (you can read about it in the blog post previous to this one) and I decided I needed to get back on the stick & get some of this weight off. It followed on the heals of our big holiday rush season at work. I had been dreading the month of December. I knew I was not in good shape to handle the long hours on my feet & increased volume. I made it thru, but boy was I miserable. Both of my hips were hurting. My back went out for about 3 days - at the end thank goodness. I was having knee problems & pain shooting from heel to hip. I was feeling about 89 years old instead of 39.

So for the last two weeks I have been watching what I eat and I have been off pop again since I had been pretty much mainlining Diet Mt Dew to get myself through the holidays. The first week I actually went down 11 pounds - I must have had enough water bloat to float a boat! This past week I pretty much stayed the same weight wise but I feel better. I started working out again too. This morning I met a friend at the gym so she could teach me how to use some of the equipment I was not real familiar with. This friend has also has had hip problems so I knew that along with her gym savvy she also knew what problems I have been dealing with.

At one point we were siting on a mat & I was telling her about the muscle atrophy thing & how I never got back to my doctor. I was telling her how I could hardly lift my leg to do a leg lift in the pool the day before. Then I laid on my side & went to demonstrate there on the mat. Only lying there on the mat I realized I couldn't lift my leg at all - not even an inch! No matter how hard I tried the leg would not move.  I'm not sure who was more shocked by this, her or me. So like the awesome friend she is she told me that was very bad and I needed to email my doctor and she was going to hound me until I did.

So when I got home I did email him and explained to him what has been going on and hoped he wasn't so disgusted with me for my immature behavior that he wouldn't answer back. I have now realized I need to quit being so ignorant and take care of this. I have been on a 2 year path to self destruction. I was angry at the world because things didn't turn out the way I wanted them to with my surgery & I punished myself for it every step of the way.

After I sent the email off I went over to my parent's house for a few hours. When I got home I was pretty surprised to see I had already gotten a reply from my doctor. He said he would have his nurse call me and set up a time to get me into the office. So now I have to start over & hope to God that it is not too late and there is something that can be done. My time in this river has ended, I'm finally swimming toward the shore. Hopefully I'll make it there but I might need a few lifesavers thrown my way from time to time. I'll keep you posted...

I Saw a Sign...

Yesterday I was walking around Woodfield Mall with my mom & my kids. I hate Woodfield Mall. It's crowed and confusing, the stores seem like they change constantly so you practically need a GPS to figure out how to get where you want to be, and it brings back bad memories. Those awkward High School years when I hung out there and hoped I would meet Prince Charming and never did because I was too shy & uncomfortable with myself. My mom hates it too and neither of us had been there in years but it had all the stores we wanted to hit under one roof so off we went anyway.

As I was walking around feeling the echo of those memories of  long ago I suddenly realized I was finally walking through Woodfield holding hands with, IMO, the cutest boy there. My gorgeous 8 yr old son. So being my silly self I updated my Facebook status:

"Walking thru Woodfield Mall holding hands with a cute boy"

and then I stopped quick, handed my mom my phone and had her snap a picture which I also dispatched to Facebook with barely a glance to just make sure I wasn't squinting or something. I went blissfully about my day feeling pretty pleased with myself not realizing what was lurking, literally, behind my shoulder.

Later back at my mom's I logged on to Facebook and clicked on that picture. That is when I noticed it. Of all the hundreds of stored in that stinking hell hole, I mean mall, I just happened to stop in front of a big girls clothes store just in the perfect spot so the words PLUS SIZES appear right over my shoulder. Really??? C'mon! My mom laughed and said "You should have stopped in front of Victoria's Secret". Um...yeah..like anyone would believe I shop there - not!

So I know every one is probably tired of my whining about my weight and my big lofty goals that go nowhere. I'm tired of myself and the multiple failures and flops.  I am officially back to where I started. I have gained it ALL back. 70 plus pounds! I don't know why I can't get motivated. I don't know why I can't stick with it. I know why I should. I have discussed those reasons over and over here in this blog. I was actually thinking about it yesterday morning AGAIN! What was I waiting for anyway? A sign from God? Huh. Well whether it was God, Fate, or just my own unconscious brain I guess I got one! You don't get a more obvious sign than bright white NEON hovering over your shoulder!

So I am starting again! First I am getting off the pop again because I was pretty much living on Diet Mt Dew during the Holiday Rush at work. I am rejoining Health Bridge so I can go work out and take my daughter to work out because we have to work on getting her strength back from her surgery last summer or she won't be able to play softball next summer and that would really suck. I am going to start bringing my lunch again and watching my portions. And I am going to start blogging again to keep myself accountable.

Wish me luck! I'm probably going to need it...